This article reports on a study in which researchers asked children to "make up as story and a picture about marbles for this number sentence: 3 x 5 = 15." Students in this study came from pre - dominantly low- to average-income families living in three distinct geographical areas within the United States. A similar division task was also collected from these students at the end of their fourth-grade year. Presented in this article are findings describing the children's multiplication and division stories, and a discussion of the value of having students create their own stories and pictures as classroom assessments.